


Tongues Will Wag, and We Will Let Them

by betheflame, justanotherpipedream



Series: StarkBucks Bingo 2020 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Regency, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27662495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betheflame/pseuds/betheflame, https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherpipedream/pseuds/justanotherpipedream
Summary: “Bucky,” Nat's voice dropped to near a whisper as she invoked the childhood nickname, “I just want you to be happy.”“He doesn’t want me, Nat.” Bucky dipped his quill back in the inkpot and set to finishing his letter to Samuel Wilson, his friend from his time in the army. “I’m not chasing after a man who made a very public choice. This matter, as far as I am concerned, is closed.”She drew breath to say something else and he cut his eyes to hers. “Please, sister. I beseech you.”She nodded and if James didn’t know better, he would have sworn she had a sheen of tears.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Series: StarkBucks Bingo 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738231
Comments: 19
Kudos: 182





	Tongues Will Wag, and We Will Let Them

**Author's Note:**

> FINALLY. Summer has been ready with this art for ages and your girl over here got all in my head and it took me pure donkeys to get this out. Hope it passes muster. 
> 
> This is a fill for Starkbucks Bingo: 03: Mutual Pining  
> Tony Stark Bingo: A4- Interrupted Kiss (summerpipedream - 4045)

* * *

“James,” Natasha said quietly, without even taking her eyes from her needlepoint, “I implore you to speak to him again and make him see reason.”

James Barnes cut his eyes to his sister. “I do not believe that will accomplish my desired outcome, Natasha.”

“Now, now,” she said archly, “is that any way to speak to a duchess?”

“You are having far too much fun with this new title,” James grumbled.

“I am, aren’t I?” Natasha said with a giggle and James smiled as well, knowing full well that she lords her new title over only one living being - him.

After growing up as a bit of a pack, the Barnes siblings - six of them in all - and the Rogers ones - four on that side - had never stood on ceremony with each other. Most likely because that was modeled by their parents, the Duke and Duchess of Brooklynne and the Earl and Countess of Conneway. The Duchess had not always been the Duchess, as she was fond to remind her children, and just because her title changed upon her marriage did not mean that her worth did. She took her societal cues from the Bridgertons and Rokesbys - families well known for kindness alongside propriety - instead of some of the other vultures who routinely circled her brood.

The marriage of Steven - the future duke - had been a topic of interest for both of the families, but James had always had a feeling his twin was the most interested. It wasn’t until Steve’s second failed Season that she finally sat herself on his lap and declared her intentions. Steve had always been too nervous to tell one of his best friends that he loved her, and James was about four days shy of shoving them in a closet when Natasha found her guts and made the move.

Their wedding the previous autumn had been the talk of the town and also one of the worst days of James’ life.

He had not been prepared for Anthony, Viscount Stark, _to bring a date_.

“Your unconventional liaisons always had a terminus, brother,” Natasha said and James hated the sympathy in her voice. He hated that she could marry whoever she wanted and he had to come up with convoluted plans to be with his.

“I know, Nat,” he ground out and attempted to return to the correspondence he was composing.

“James, I -

“Leave it, Natasha Marie,” he said sharply. “I told him my feelings before your wedding. I told him that I wanted to arrive together and that you and Steve had promised protections and his response was to show up with Virginia, who we all know is having her own unconventional liaisons with the Duchess of Danvers.”

“Bucky,” her voice dropped to near a whisper as she invoked the childhood nickname, “I just want you to be happy.”

“He doesn’t want me, Nat.” Bucky dipped his quill back in the inkpot and set to finishing his letter to Samuel Wilson, his friend from his time in the army. “I’m not chasing after a man who made a very public choice. This matter, as far as I am concerned, is closed.”

She drew breath to say something else and he cut his eyes to hers. “Please, sister. I beseech you.”

She nodded and if James didn’t know better, he would have sworn she had a sheen of tears.

* * *

“Anthony, I am exceptionally weary of this,” Virginia said blithely as they rode around Rotten Row at the height of the social hour. “Everyone in this park knows I will not marry you. This farce is exhausting.”

“Everyone in this park does not know that, Pepper, for I have not yet launched my final assault against your stubbornness,” Anthony responded. Despite his repeated requests for her to call him ‘Tony’, the way he preferred, Virginia preferred ceremony. He retaliated by calling her the name he’d given her in childhood after a particularly dramatic house party with a visiting dignitary from the East Indies.

“Anthony,” she said under her breath, nodding to a couple who passed them, “I understand that some day you will be the Duke of Manhattan and I should care deeply about that. If not for me, then for my future children, but I not only do not wish to have those future children but am not socially obligated to do so. I am happy with Carol and with our arrangement. Nicholas is happy with our arrangement, and your inability to be brave and plan a life with James is not going to wreck that.”

He scowled at her. Sometimes, the worst thing in the world was having a friend who had known you since you were in leading strings.

“Oh,” Virginia said in a tone that said she was trying to be casual but failing miserably, “I have accepted an invitation on our behalf to the ball at Bridgerton House on Friday. You should collect me at half past nine and please wear the blue waistcoat and pale yellow cravat.”

“Would you like to dictate my dinner as well?”

“Are you actually promising me that you will remember to dine prior to the ball and your direct path you will cut to the brandy?”

“I loathe you entirely,” Tony said with a flippant grin.

“The feeling is mutual, my friend, I do assure you.”

* * *

“They are both going to be in attendance,” Nat assured her husband as they were getting ready for the Bridgerton ball. “I liaised with Virginia to assure it.”

“I have spoken with both Happy and Duggan to make sure Buck and Anthony are in the orange grove at the same time,” Steve confirmed as he tied his cravat.

“I am, admittedly, concerned,” Nat said.

“Why?”

She chose her words carefully. “I know that the Bridgertons, Everseas, Rokesbys, and Ravenels will be on their side no matter what. I had lunch at Winterbourne’s this week as well, and hinted that James and Anthony may want to step out together.”

“How did the Welshman take it?”

“Not well at first,” Nat confessed, “but then assured me that they would be welcome in his store at any time, so I suppose that is the best we can ask for.”

“I know the world is not ready,” Steve replied, “but how else will the world get ready without being forced to?”

“The only question I’ve gotten is about what will happen to the Stark lands if Anthony does not have an heir,” Nat said. “Mostly because I’m sure every other question people have they feel they cannot ask.”

Steve laughed. “I would adore to be in the room when someone asks Buck about how he has sex.”

Nat chuckled. “Well, we have known for many, many years, so perhaps we are used to it?”

“Or perhaps we just value Bucky’s life and his choices more than we value propriety,” Steve mused. He called for his valet to finish with a few touches and then turned to his wife. “Shall we away, Mrs. Rogers?”

“I believe we shall, Your Grace,” she said with a smile.

* * *

James heard a rustling at the entrance to the orangerie and heard a deep sigh. “I should have known.”

“Who dragged you here?” James asked.

“I was told Peter needed me,” Tony said with a wry chuckle. “Why an eleven-year-old who has more interest in dogs than oranges would need me here, I did not stop to question. You?”

“Nat told me that if I didn’t talk to you tonight that she would shove us both into a rowboat and send us out in the middle of the north lake at Brooklynne Manor.”

Tony laughed and James’ heart leapt. Tony’s laugh - his pure, unadulterated laugh - was one of his favorite sounds. It was always how he knew he was with Tony and not Viscount Stark, for his love kept those personas very separate. “She would do it, too.”

“She would at that.”

“She loves you,” Tony said softly. James knew that he was jealous of the sprawling Barnes family. The weight of being an heir and not having any siblings to share camaraderie or commiserations with had weighed heavy on Tony their entire friendship. When the relationship evolved past friendship, the weight of Tony’s anxiety felt acute to James and he wished he could do something to resolve it.

“She could love you, too,” James whispered and moved so they were close enough to touch.

“It’s not worth the risk,” Tony whispered. James laced their fingers together and pulled Tony into his side. This conversation was well worn.

“Who says?”

“I have duties to my name,” Tony said.

“That you hate.”

“The Church will -”

“Have you talked to Archbishop Smyth personally?”

Tony’s head shot up at that and he peered at James. “What do you know?”

“I know that there is a way for us to marry and satisfy the law and the Church doesn’t need to officially bless it, but Edward will personally perform the ceremony,” James replied.

“Steve arranged it, didn’t he.”

“He doesn’t like bullies, Tony, I told you that. Even if the bully is the Church of England and the King himself, he’ll fight for us,” James said and cupped Tony’s cheek. “Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” Tony confessed, “but it feels too good to be true. I love you and you know that, but can we really get away with this?”

“Who knows,” James said with a shrug, “but what is the worst that can happen? Your lands are returned to the Crown upon your death?”

“My tenants,” Tony shrugged and trailed off.

“So free them in your will,” James replied. “Nat and Steve are quite friendly with that Winterbourne fellow, the one with the department store who has the lady doctor. He’s introduced them to all sorts of people who know how to work the law for their advantage and I’ve met a few of them as well. I’m sure we can solve any problem as long as we are together.”

Tony was quiet. He chewed on his bottom lip and James held his own counsel. A silent Tony was a plotting one - turning over all the ideas in his own mind. Their last giant fight had been over this very thing, at nearly this point in the conversation - when declarations of love were all well and good but how would they make it work?

‘ _A fish may love a bird_ ,’ Tony had said to him that night, ‘ _but where would they live?_ ’

“Virginia, Tony?” James said quietly and he saw Tony blanche.

“That was hurtful, I know, and I’m sorry.”

“It was and are you?”

Tony’s eyes snapped up.

“I will wait for you to be ready for as long as you need,” James explained, “but I will not be made a fool. Be publicly single or be with me, those are my terms and I made that clear before the wedding.”

“You did,” Tony confessed.

“So did you misplace your mind?”

“No,” Tony replied evenly. “I spent the month between the engagement party and the wedding in my workshop, trying to perfect that thrasher I told you about and I could not get it to work. Until I can, my tenants are reliant on Howard’s technology which is sorely lacking any future thinking in terms of agrarian innovation, and therefore I cannot abandon them.”

“And it would have killed you to send this to me in a note of some fashion?”

“I don’t know,” Tony said loudly. “I am dramatic and unwieldy and I have told you that, James. You know me, do you honestly think I thought about the consequences of inviting Pepper? It was an impulse, a panic move, and you cannot tell me you did not realize that.”

The thing was, James had known that. He knew this man and he had known that Pepper had gotten the invitation to attend the wedding mere hours before they were to leave - he could tell by the look on her face and the fact that the usually immaculately put together Lady Virginia Potts had a hem that wasn’t perfectly sewn. The social papers had attributed her slight dishevelment to carriage activities with Anthony, but James knew better.

“I knew,” James confessed.

“Then… why are we here?” Tony said.

Instead of a response, James pulled his love in for a kiss. A deep kiss that James tried to use to communicate everything he was feeling. Deep love, unending frustration, exceptional lust…

_BANG_

“There they are, Reverend,” Steve’s voice carried through the room.

“What are you up to, Stevie?” James growled into Tony’s mouth and then stepped away so they could straighten themselves.

“Ah, Lord Stark and Lord Barnes! How lovely to see you on this auspicious evening.” The Archbishop of Canterbury descended the stairs and made his way towards the couple. “His Grace tells me that you two are in a bit of a pickle.”

Tony snorted. “You could say that, sir.”

“The laws of man are quite troublesome at times, when it comes to matters of humanity,” the man said with a twinkle in his eye. “And please, the name is Edward.”

“Then I’m Tony, and this is James,” Tony replied.

“I have found no evidence in the body of Scripture that tells me I cannot do what I am offering to do,” Edward replied. “The laws that prohibit it are those of man - laws of property and unions and legal ramifications. I care little for those in these circumstances.”

James knew this was a possibility. Steve had told him, Nat had told him, hell - the Archbishop himself had told him. But to hear it all while he was holding Tony’s hand…

“Anthony,” the reverend said, “I know this gives you little permanent resolution in terms of your title and legacy, but neither does it hurt anything. We can solve all the laws of men later, but you soothe your heart right now.”

“When you put it that way…” Tony closed his eyes for a few beats and then opened them again. He took his signet ring from his left hand and dropped to one knee. “James Barnes, I’m terrified but completely sure and there’s no one else I want to figure the future out with. Will you do me the honor of becoming whatever Edward lets us call ourselves?”

“Husbands, beloveds, whatever you so choose,” Edward interjected.

“I will be delighted to be your husband,” James replied, “for I am already your beloved and you are mine.”

“Oh, I do love this part,” Edward exclaimed. “Your Grace, we shall need at least one more witness.”

“Reverend, if you think this is going to happen without my wife, you two need to know each other better,” Steve replied and strode to presumably find a footman to summon Nat.

“And Pepper, please,” Tony called and Steve threw a signal of assent as he reached the door.

Within moments, both women were ushered into the orangerie and under the moonlight, James Barnes took Anthony Stark to be his spiritually wedded husband. He took him for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, for better or worse, and forsaking all others for as long as they both shall live. Anthony did the same and there was not a dry eye in the proverbial house.

“Now,” Edward said as the newly married husbands broke from their kiss, “I should surely hope there is cake at this ball. It is not truly a wedding without sweet refreshments.”

Tony laughed. “Knowing Daphne, there are at least fourteen.”

“Then let us find cake and make merry, and upon the morrow, let us plot to bend the laws of men to align with the spirit of Heaven.”

“Hear, hear,” they all agreed. James kissed his husband, fingered his new ring, and dreamed of the details of the happily ever after he had just said ‘yes’ to.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Few quick things! Every family I mention in this was created by Julia Quinn (Bridgerton, Rokesby), Julie Ann Long (Everseas), or Lisa Kleypas (Ravenel, Winterbourne). They are BY FAR my favorite Regency-era authors and I cannot swoon over their work dramatically enough. Should you want to dive into a non-fandom Regency world, I recommend the Bridgertons - because a whole series drops on Netflix on Christmas Day!
> 
> Orangeries are basically greenhouses but classier. 
> 
> And yes, various Archbishops throughout time have done exactly what Edward did. 
> 
> If you liked the story, I'd love to know! Kudos and comments are life giving. If you're not sure what to say in the comment, know that I take keyboard smashes and emojis as full love. So, if you liked it more than just a kudos, dropping a heart emoji is great and I thank you in advance.
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/betheflame1) or [Tumblr](http://betheflame.tumblr.com) for more on these yahoos. You can also submit prompts and cajole me into writing faster - it usually works. If you're on Discord, I'm definitely there, too, and probably hanging in the [Put on the Suit Stony Server ](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS) or the [STB Enthusiasts Stuckony](https://discord.gg/ktXHUb4) one.  
>   
> Oh! And FestiveFerret and I have a [fandom podcast](http://www.podonthesuit.com) if you're so inclined.  
>   
> 


End file.
